Rensselaer County looking at eat local policy

Rensselaer County Legislator Ken Herrington has proposed legislation asking the county to consider purchasing a percentage of locally grown fruits, vegetables and meats from county farmers, mirroring a proposal approved last month by the Albany County Legislature.

Herrington said in a news release that the county jail and county nursing home could use a “significant percentage” of local produce.

“This is a good idea, and one that can benefit farmers in Rensselaer County. There is a wide variety of meats, fruits and vegetables produced in our county, and it makes sense to utilize those products at county facilities,” Herrington, who serves as chairman of the legislature’s agriculture committee, said in the release.

The resolution asks the county purchasing director to examine the feasibility of requiring the purchase of Rensselaer County produce. The purchasing director is asked to report back within 60 days.

3 Responses

This is one of those ideas that sounds great in theory and I like the idea of supporting locals. That said, what happens when the county finds out that buying local will cost substantially more? The legislature will be faced with the dilemma of trying to keep costs down vs buying local. Didn’t the State of NY gov’t face a similar dilemma when it found it could save money in a tight budget by contracting with some vendors who happened to be out of state or Canada?

Even if the upfront costs appear higher, by contracting with local companies for locally produced goods there is a significant multiplier effect- every time we buy locally instead of importing food, we are creating employment and income for our local economy and this money recirculates through the local economy as each of the local vendors who earned those dollars then re-spends that money on more local goods and services- it is short-sighted to ignore how this can build real, lasting and sustainable wealth for our community.

Urbanist, I like and agree with your thinking. However, most government officials don’t seem to be willing to look at things over the long haul. They only seem to react to immediate effects. That is why when budget time comes they will opt for the immediate cost cutting route.

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